Yup - it's an awesome distraction. I liked to play Sid Meir's "Railroads" too, but it doesn't much like Vista.
Part of the fun, for me, in playing AOE was creating my own GIANT maps with HUGE piles of resources, stocking it with opposing (computer) players, killing everybody in sight, and then setting up trade caravans with 200 carts and seeing how many millions I could make before I got bored.... What FUN!
Cheers!
Gary